I was lucky enough to visit Antarctica with Aurora Expeditions on their ship, the Greg Mortimer — a genuine trip of a lifetime, and a photographer's dream. These are my photographic tips from the journey.

My ambition on this trip was to enjoy the landscapes and the penguins — normally I'm primarily a wildlife photographer with a particular interest in birds. My kit included two Canon bodies (the 1DX Mark II and 5D Mark III), paired with a 16-35mm f/2.8 and a 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS II lens. I left my 600mm f/4.0 prime at home, since it wasn't necessary for this kind of shooting. I also brought polarising filters, graduated ND filters, a lens mount, and a lightweight travel tripod, which worked brilliantly throughout the trip.

I wore a camera body strap to secure both cameras, and carried a waterproof bag with spare filters, batteries, and the tripod.

A typical day on the ship includes Zodiac excursions in the morning and afternoon, with landings for exploration in between. Getting in and out of the Zodiacs is genuinely challenging, and it's easy to get wet. We were fortunate with mostly good weather — minimal rain and snow — but layering is essential regardless, since conditions can shift quickly. Gloves never really worked for me; I mostly shot bare-handed and recovered in the gloves once the pain in my fingers became unbearable. As I said to other photographers on the trip: you have to chase the light and work with whatever you've been given.

My landscapes were all shot from the helm on a tripod, using polarising and graduated filters throughout. My approach was to plan the composition, then take multiple shots across the landscape to stitch together in Lightroom's Photo Merge — a technique that worked particularly well, with genuinely simple post-processing. Our first landing at Petermann Island, with the sun out and a bright sky over the bay, was a good example of this working exactly as planned.

The wildlife is spectacular and easily accessible, whether from the Zodiacs or on land — something like a cold-weather version of a safari, for anyone who's visited national parks elsewhere in the world. Every day brought its own excitement, largely because you're always expecting the unexpected. The expedition guides were extremely knowledgeable and made the experience even richer. Hiking with gear on ice and rock was tricky at times, and I ended up using the tripod as a walking stick more than once. The penguins themselves are genuinely adorable, and getting to their eye level was as simple as crouching or lying down.

Porpoising penguins were my biggest wildlife challenge on the trip — their path and exit point are genuinely unpredictable. Panning with them and anticipating where they'll surface works well in burst mode. Adjusting exposure compensation to shift the histogram to the right also helps considerably, since darker animals like penguins can get lost against dark sea water. I mostly shot in aperture priority on the Zodiacs, which handled the constantly changing backgrounds — sky to sea and back again — far better than I expected.

The wildlife deserves real respect — keeping adequate distance and giving way if your paths cross. That's rarely difficult, but occasionally the animals come to you instead, which is a genuine bonus — to the point where I'd switch to a wide-angle lens rather than the 100-400mm. It's not unusual for a curious penguin to peck at your clothing.

A tripod is essential for landscapes, especially when stitching images together in post-production. The polarising filters made a genuine difference too, spreading the histogram further and pulling more data out of the sea in the foreground — the sea ice and icebergs in particular stood out even more once polarised.

The islands around Antarctica have an astonishing beauty, as these photos of Paradise Harbour, Port Lockroy, and Cierva Cove show — mountains crowding the bays, sea ice and icebergs filling the water, and occasionally a whale surfacing right in the middle of a landscape shot.

We also visited Deception Island, an active volcano and former whaling station where the warmer rock keeps the snow away entirely. The colour and texture of the exposed rock there was genuinely beautiful, and a good reminder of how much diversity Antarctica actually holds beyond ice and snow.

On our last day, we explored the vast Antarctic Sound, where icebergs and sea ice float in genuinely huge numbers. Eventually we found a suitable stretch of pack ice for a landing, and everyone got the chance to walk on the sea ice itself — sharing it with penguins and fur seals, on a day of sunshine and spectacular panoramas.

This trip's success owed a great deal to the expedition leader, who used detailed weather reports every day to find the safest, most comfortable route for the ship and Zodiacs — with the itinerary itself often only settled at the last minute. I can't praise the expedition team enough for making the trip such an overwhelming success, and I'm genuinely grateful for the privilege of visiting the seventh continent — thank you, Aurora Expeditions, and thank you, Antarctica.

About the Author

Brian Harrisberg
Dr Brian Harrisberg is a Sydney-based practicing ophthalmologist specialising in cataract and refractive surgery, and diabetic eye disease. Brian's interest in photography began as a young eye doctor, and he's since produced some genuinely stunning images, with a particular focus on bird photography. As Brian puts it: "Bird photography and bird watching take me to new and wonderful places both literally and figuratively. Editing, posting on social media, and printing the images allow me to re-visit those moments in the bush and share them with the world."